Our trip home was so wonderful, but it went by so quickly!
First, we had a bit of a reality check when we were in the Anchorage airport on our way to Minneapolis. Of course Brian and I were so excited to have a taste of fast food after our four/five month deprivation, so as soon as we arrived in Anchorage we began planning our pit stop at McDonalds. We planned that we would locate our gate and then stop at McDonalds to pick up a quick bite. As we passed McDonalds we noted that we had about 20/30 minutes before our plane would be leaving, so we continued to the gate just to make sure that it was fairly close before we got our food. Surprisingly the person working at the desk checking boarding passes was very excited that we had finally made it and rushed us onto the plane! Once we were in our seats it hit us that boarding is usually 30-45 minutes before the plane is actually supposed to leave! It's a good thing that we are getting out of the village once in a while!
On our way to visiting Wisconsin, we stopped in Minneapolis to drop off Sophie (our cat) with Brian's aunt and uncle while we continued on to Florida for a few days. After Uncle Pete had left with Sophie, we discovered that our large piece of luggage had not arrived in Minneapolis with us. Since we didn't know the address of the place that we would be staying in Florida, and we weren't sure when our luggage would actually make it, we told the airline staff that we would pick up our luggage when we came back to Minneapolis in a few days. So, we flew into Ft. Myers, checked in at our hotel, and immediately went shopping. We pretty much had nothing! I was just happy that I had decided against wearing my boots especially when stepped out of the airport in Ft. Myers; it was roughly 85/90 degrees! The warmest that it had reached before we left Koliganek was maybe 60 degrees! We bought shorts and swimsuits at Target (it was a "super" Target, and I was so happy to be in such a wonderful shopping facility finally!!!), and we were set for time spent on the beach with our friends Ross and Andie when they arrived in Ft. Myers the next day! We stayed at a condo that is owned by Ross' aunt on Sanibel Island. It was so beautiful! We had such a wonderful time soaking up the sun on the beach that was bordering the property of the condo!
When we finally made it back to Minneapolis (after an extra night stay in Miami due to issues with our plane in Ft. Myer) where we picked up Sophie and then rushed to La Crosse for my cousins graduation party. Brian and I were so happy to see our families again, but only a few short days later, we left for a trip to the Boundary Waters. We went with our friends Ross and Andie as we do every summer, and we also went with a childhood friend of Brian and Ross, Adam. We put in at Kawishiwi and made our way to another lake that I can't remember the name. We had a great experience; we saw so much wildlife this time! A couple of the boys saw a moose right in our camp, we all experienced the Grey Jays eating out of Brian and Ross' hands, there were around 40 butterflies in one small area of our site, we saw chipmunks and baby turtles, we caught perch, walleye, northern, smallies, and suckers, and there was our returning friend, Gilbert, the 50 lb. snapping turtle that continued to attack our fish!
I was so happy to squeeze in a trip to the cities with my sisters while I was home! We had an interesting time getting up there; we got lost several times! But we finally made it about an hour and a half before the Mall of America was going to close, and we savored every minute of it. When the stores had closed, we found a restaurant that was still open and spent some time having dinner and chatting. It was really fun! The best part, however, was when we went back to the hotel and played a game that we loved as children! Of course we had to reread the directions, but we had a great time playing "Jewels in the Attic!" We were able to get in a couple more hours of shopping the next morning before we had to get Sarah home for work. We had such a wonderful time!!!
We were also able to sneak in a trip to Madison to visit Brian's brothers and sister. We weren't there for more than a few hours when my mom called about a problem with the bridesmaids' dresses. I had to leave right away to get it straightened out, but Brian was able to stay and get some fishing in with his brother and brother-in-law. He will have to elaborate on the fishing experience.
Katie (my sister) got married on June 22nd, so we spent some time helping prepare for that. It was a very beautiful ceremony and reception. There was a bit of an issue with the unity candles almost burning down the church, but one of the fearless bridesmaids stepped in to save the day by blowing out the candle! The reception was held in a place called the Party Barn. It was decorated beautifully thanks to the parents and everyone who helped put the decorations up! The food was amazing, and we danced all night! Katie looked beautiful right to the end!
The day of the gift opening, I took Sarah to the emergency room to have an ear ache looked at. Of course she had a case of swimmers ear where the doctor recommended that she not submerge her head in any water for at least a week. This was the day before we left on a family trip to the Dells. The entire family (my parents, both of my sisters, my sister's husband, my other sister's boyfriend, and me and Brian) stayed in an amazing room at Glacier Canyon. There are so many waterparks right on site that kept us so busy. One of the days, the boys went golfing, and the girls went shopping! We all had so much fun! On the last day, everyone except my parents went golfing again.
The time that we spent in Wisconsin went by so quickly that we weren't able to get in everything that we wanted to. However, Brian was able to sneak in a couple of quick trips to Cabellas, and I was able to convince Brian and Ross to leave me at the mall one day so that I could spend some real quality time shopping all by myself. I forgot to mention the crazy bachelorette party that Katie had; it was a luau with a Passion Party!
It was really difficult for me to leave when it was time. I miss my family so much when I'm not with them, but I know that I will be able to see them again briefly in October when we are back for Brian's brother's wedding.
Showing posts with label Molly's Postings. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Molly's Postings. Show all posts
Wednesday, July 18, 2007
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
Climbing Ketok
A couple weekends ago, just before all of the snow melted, Brian and I took our snow machine out on the river just to cruise around. As we went, we decided to try to get as close to our mountain as possible (it's about seven miles from Koliganek).
We traveled farther and farther and it seemed that we would never reach the mountain. As we got closer we found thick woods surrounding the mountain. We almost decided that we just wouldn't make it when we found a clearing in the woods.
We were able to drive right up to the mountain, and if there would have been more snow, we would have been able to drive all the way up. We parked right at the bottom and began climbing. The incline wasn't very steep, but it was covered with small rock that made it a little slippery. When we got to the top, we found some really neat rock formations that we took a couple of pictures of. The view was amazing! We even saw a group of moose walking along a tree-line. It was such a beautiful day that Brian and I had to leave our snowpants, coats, mittens, hats, etc. in a pile at the top while we explored. The only problem with the weather was that it was a little hazy in the distance. If it had been clearer, we would have been able to see other mountains in the distance really easily.
When we returned from our adventure, we checked to see what the elevation of Ketok Mountain is since it wasn't as high as we were expecting. We found that the highest part is about 1700 feet high. And if you don't know about our mountain, it looks like a pregnant lady laying down. You can see her head/face, her chest, her belly, her legs, and then her feet. We walked along her chest which is the second highest part from her belly. In the picture of me sitting on the rock formation, you can see her belly in the background.
We had so much fun that day! Now we have made plans to do lots of hiking this summer. We want to canoe down the Tickchik lakes and explore the mountains around there! It should be fun!
We traveled farther and farther and it seemed that we would never reach the mountain. As we got closer we found thick woods surrounding the mountain. We almost decided that we just wouldn't make it when we found a clearing in the woods.
We were able to drive right up to the mountain, and if there would have been more snow, we would have been able to drive all the way up. We parked right at the bottom and began climbing. The incline wasn't very steep, but it was covered with small rock that made it a little slippery. When we got to the top, we found some really neat rock formations that we took a couple of pictures of. The view was amazing! We even saw a group of moose walking along a tree-line. It was such a beautiful day that Brian and I had to leave our snowpants, coats, mittens, hats, etc. in a pile at the top while we explored. The only problem with the weather was that it was a little hazy in the distance. If it had been clearer, we would have been able to see other mountains in the distance really easily.
When we returned from our adventure, we checked to see what the elevation of Ketok Mountain is since it wasn't as high as we were expecting. We found that the highest part is about 1700 feet high. And if you don't know about our mountain, it looks like a pregnant lady laying down. You can see her head/face, her chest, her belly, her legs, and then her feet. We walked along her chest which is the second highest part from her belly. In the picture of me sitting on the rock formation, you can see her belly in the background.
We had so much fun that day! Now we have made plans to do lots of hiking this summer. We want to canoe down the Tickchik lakes and explore the mountains around there! It should be fun!
Friday, March 9, 2007
I Have Been Busy
I know that it has been a long time since the last (and only) time that I submitted a posting, but after getting hired at the school, I have been so busy! My classes are going pretty well. It has been somewhat difficult teaching two art classes without many supplies. I have been trying to get a list of supplies approved or at least something approved so that I can order a few things, especially for my high schoolers, but I don't think that I'll get anything before the end of the school year. I've got some ideas for the rest of this year, though, and then next year I can get what I need.
If anyone has ideas on teaching a first grader the letters of the alphabet and the sounds that they make, let me know. That has probably been the most difficult thing for me to teach. I'm really running out of ideas.
Another huge dilemma for me has been grading. I took over classes about six weeks into the quarter, so it's been difficult trying to figure out how to combine grades or what exactly I need to do. Today is the last day of third quarter, so that all has to be figured out by Tuesday. Eek!
Yesterday another one of the teachers and I rearranged our classroom. It was pretty exciting! It feels more like my room now than someone else's room that my desk is in. I'm getting some artwork on the walls, too, so it's looking brighter. A few of the students have made comments about how much nicer it looks now!
For those of you reading this who are not teachers, I apologize for so much boring school talk. Other than school, I have been trying to keep up on baking bread. I had ordered two five pound bags of whole wheat flour since the stores here don't carry whole wheat bread, so I baked a couple of whole wheat loaves last weekend. After they had been baked and I was slicing them, I noticed how white they looked. Brian and I discussed for quite a while about how interesting that was and that wheat breads must always have caramel coloring in them. It wasn't until a couple of days later that I realized that the flour that we had received was actually unbleached white bread flour. I was so mad! Maybe someday I'll get some whole wheat bread.
I have also been doing a little artwork outside of school just for fun and for something to hang on the boring white walls in our house. I have been painting on the brown packing paper that we have so much of since it comes with our groceries and just about everything else that we order.
Lately it has been very cold here. The temperature has been right around zero most of the time, but the windchill has been the worst. For a few days earlier this week we were really struggling to heat our house. When I woke up Monday or Tuesday morning, the thermostat was set at 72 degrees, but it was 52 degrees inside! It was quite a struggle to get the temperature up to the mid to upper sixties. There was one unit of teacher housing that the pipes froze. They haven't had water for a few days now. We have also had to cancel gym and shop classes because you could see your breath in those rooms! Hopefully it will be getting warmer soon. Of course the days have been getting a lot longer just like everywhere else. It is just so nice when we are finishing up with dinner at 7:30 and it's still light.
I'm not sure if we've mentioned this before, but we order most of our groceries online. This works out pretty well for ordering nonperishables (except for when you get the wrong flour!), but in order to get perishable foods, you have to pay a lot more for shipping. Brian and I have avoided finding out exactly how much more it costs by not ordering these items, but it gets frustrating after you've gone so long without salad, fresh fruit, or any other fresh produce. One of the other teachers went to Dillingham, our regional hub, over a weekend and brought salad to school for lunch when she got back. I told her that I was jealous, so the next day she brought in a huge bowl of salad for everyone to share! Then another one of the teachers went to Anchorage for a week, so I requested some spinach. When she returned with spinach and lettuce, our co-op got a shipment of produce! It was the first shipment that I had ever seen (in the month and a half that I have been here), so I hurried down as soon as the students left school. It had already been picked through, and there were no more oranges, but I got some green peppers, cucumbers, mushrooms, tomatoes, and lots of apples! Then next day Brian bought a kiwi! We've had salads, BLTs, and great snacks! Yummm!
Some more exciting news is that we got satellite TV a couple of weeks ago! Of course this has caused a couple of problems in getting things done, but we've been able to watch our favorite shows, some movies, and even the news!!! I heard today on the Today Show that gas prices have gone up again. They said that the highest prices in the nation are in California at $3 something a gallon. I found this amusing since gas here is $5 a gallon and this has been the price of gas for the past couple of years! Some people told Brian that the price of gas never changes in the village (or at least not like it does back home).
I'll try to write again soon so that it's not quite so long next time. If you have any questions or comments, please write them. You can leave them at the end of each of our postings. We would really like to hear what you are wondering or interested in hearing more about.
P.S. Brian and I will be home in June for my sister Katie's wedding on the 22nd!
If anyone has ideas on teaching a first grader the letters of the alphabet and the sounds that they make, let me know. That has probably been the most difficult thing for me to teach. I'm really running out of ideas.
Another huge dilemma for me has been grading. I took over classes about six weeks into the quarter, so it's been difficult trying to figure out how to combine grades or what exactly I need to do. Today is the last day of third quarter, so that all has to be figured out by Tuesday. Eek!
Yesterday another one of the teachers and I rearranged our classroom. It was pretty exciting! It feels more like my room now than someone else's room that my desk is in. I'm getting some artwork on the walls, too, so it's looking brighter. A few of the students have made comments about how much nicer it looks now!
For those of you reading this who are not teachers, I apologize for so much boring school talk. Other than school, I have been trying to keep up on baking bread. I had ordered two five pound bags of whole wheat flour since the stores here don't carry whole wheat bread, so I baked a couple of whole wheat loaves last weekend. After they had been baked and I was slicing them, I noticed how white they looked. Brian and I discussed for quite a while about how interesting that was and that wheat breads must always have caramel coloring in them. It wasn't until a couple of days later that I realized that the flour that we had received was actually unbleached white bread flour. I was so mad! Maybe someday I'll get some whole wheat bread.
I have also been doing a little artwork outside of school just for fun and for something to hang on the boring white walls in our house. I have been painting on the brown packing paper that we have so much of since it comes with our groceries and just about everything else that we order.
Lately it has been very cold here. The temperature has been right around zero most of the time, but the windchill has been the worst. For a few days earlier this week we were really struggling to heat our house. When I woke up Monday or Tuesday morning, the thermostat was set at 72 degrees, but it was 52 degrees inside! It was quite a struggle to get the temperature up to the mid to upper sixties. There was one unit of teacher housing that the pipes froze. They haven't had water for a few days now. We have also had to cancel gym and shop classes because you could see your breath in those rooms! Hopefully it will be getting warmer soon. Of course the days have been getting a lot longer just like everywhere else. It is just so nice when we are finishing up with dinner at 7:30 and it's still light.
I'm not sure if we've mentioned this before, but we order most of our groceries online. This works out pretty well for ordering nonperishables (except for when you get the wrong flour!), but in order to get perishable foods, you have to pay a lot more for shipping. Brian and I have avoided finding out exactly how much more it costs by not ordering these items, but it gets frustrating after you've gone so long without salad, fresh fruit, or any other fresh produce. One of the other teachers went to Dillingham, our regional hub, over a weekend and brought salad to school for lunch when she got back. I told her that I was jealous, so the next day she brought in a huge bowl of salad for everyone to share! Then another one of the teachers went to Anchorage for a week, so I requested some spinach. When she returned with spinach and lettuce, our co-op got a shipment of produce! It was the first shipment that I had ever seen (in the month and a half that I have been here), so I hurried down as soon as the students left school. It had already been picked through, and there were no more oranges, but I got some green peppers, cucumbers, mushrooms, tomatoes, and lots of apples! Then next day Brian bought a kiwi! We've had salads, BLTs, and great snacks! Yummm!
Some more exciting news is that we got satellite TV a couple of weeks ago! Of course this has caused a couple of problems in getting things done, but we've been able to watch our favorite shows, some movies, and even the news!!! I heard today on the Today Show that gas prices have gone up again. They said that the highest prices in the nation are in California at $3 something a gallon. I found this amusing since gas here is $5 a gallon and this has been the price of gas for the past couple of years! Some people told Brian that the price of gas never changes in the village (or at least not like it does back home).
I'll try to write again soon so that it's not quite so long next time. If you have any questions or comments, please write them. You can leave them at the end of each of our postings. We would really like to hear what you are wondering or interested in hearing more about.
P.S. Brian and I will be home in June for my sister Katie's wedding on the 22nd!
Tuesday, January 30, 2007
Molly's Arrival
Hello everyone!
I finally made it to Koliganek after six different flights starting in La Crosse, stopping in Minneapolis, Denver, Phoenix, Anchorage, Dillingham, and ending in Koliganek! Sophie (our cat) only threw up on two of the flights! She was doing great by the end of the trip. We left La Crosse on Saturday at 12:40 pm and arrived in Koliganek on Sunday at 3:00 pm (that's 6:00 pm WI time). Spending the night in the Anchorage airport was probably the least fun of the whole trip. To get to Koliganek, we took a plane that probably seated about six people including the pilot, but it was only me, Sophie, and the pilot and several boxes. We dropped the boxes off in another village first before arriving in Koliganek. On the way we saw four moose. The pilot even swooped down a little so that we could get a closer look!
When we landed at the airport, Brian was there waiting with our new snow machine (Alaskan name for the snow mobile other times called a snow go) and a sled that he borrowed to carry my luggage. It was a beautiful day!!! I think that it was about 34 degrees! We hurried to our apartment, I got a brief tour, and then we were off to see the village. Brian showed me where the school was, the stores, the post office, and even the dump! Then we went out with Brian's trapping friend to check some traps. By the way, this was my first time on a snow mobile, and it was a little scary but fun!
Later that night we visited the principal so that I could meet her, and we visited Ron, Brian's trapping friend, and his wife Rondee who is one of the elementary teachers. They have two cute kids! Ron and Rondee have lived in Koliganek for almost two years, but they have lived in bush Alaska for seven. They were telling us stories about different villages where their running water had gone out for a month! We talked about how lucky we were to be in Koliganek!
The next morning we discovered that we had actually jinxed ourselves by having the conversation about running water. There was no water! It had gone out the night before at about 9:30. The village well had dried up! I went to school with Brian to use the bathroom because the principal said that the school had a small supply of water for the toilets to flush. I had really hoped to take a shower that morning after all of the traveling that I had done, but that had to wait.
Later I found out that school had been canceled since there was no water, so I had lots of visitors. First three elementary girls stopped by. I let them in even though I had been advised not to. They really enjoyed my mp3 player and my cell phone (no service at all in Koliganek-big surprise!). It was pretty boring in my apartment, and the kids kept asking for candy, so I told them to go with me to the post office to mail a letter for Brian. We got all bundled up, and one of the girls grabbed the letter for me. As soon as we stepped outside, the letter flew out of the girl's hand in the 50 mph winds that we were getting yesterday! One of the kids chased after it and caught it, but when the other girl dropped a five dollar bill, she chased that and dropped the letter again. After that there was no way that we would ever find the white envelope in the white snow in that wind! It was gone forever! I went over to the school right away (Brian had stayed there for teacher in-service) to find out how important the letter was. When I got there, Brian told me that it was the paperwork to get the title for our snow machine. Oops. I think that he took care of it today, though.
Brian came home for lunch yesterday to eat with me, and he told me that he and the other teachers had spent their morning planning a schedule for me since the superintendent said that there was enough money to hire me full time for the rest of the year! I'm not really sure of all of the details yet, but I think that I will be teaching two art classes, a math class or two, and tutoring some first graders who need a little extra help. I'm really excited!
After Brian got done with his in-service day yesterday, we gathered our totes and took them on a sled over to another teacher's house. He has his own well, so we filled up our totes with his water (in the rain and wind) and delivered them to some of the teachers in town. So for the last couple of days our water supply has been housed in a tote in our bath tub, and bucket in the kitchen, and a tote outside. We were able to do dishes last night with it, and I washed my self this morning from a pot of water that I heated on the stove. I'm happy to be clean! We heard tonight that we might have water tomorrow morning. We'll see. There was no school again today because of the water situation. There will be school tomorrow no matter what; they are all prepared to go through the day without water.
Today was even windier than yesterday! It was 60-65 mph winds today, so you know what that meant...Brian and I had to go for a long walk toward the woods by the river! Once we got right outside of the village, the snow was soft and deep, so it was really hard to walk. We saw some enormous moose tracks and lots of moose poop! I was really scared that we would see a moose! There was no running in that snow! The walk back was horrible; it was straight into the wind. I had to walk backward most of the time because it was hard to breathe with it blowing into my face like that. It seemed to take forever to walk the quarter of a mile back to our house!
I've only been here for a couple of days, but a lot has happened! Sorry that this message was so long; I'm sure that not all of them will be so long. Right now I'm exhausted, but Brian is making me stay up late (10:00) so that I sleep longer in the morning.
I finally made it to Koliganek after six different flights starting in La Crosse, stopping in Minneapolis, Denver, Phoenix, Anchorage, Dillingham, and ending in Koliganek! Sophie (our cat) only threw up on two of the flights! She was doing great by the end of the trip. We left La Crosse on Saturday at 12:40 pm and arrived in Koliganek on Sunday at 3:00 pm (that's 6:00 pm WI time). Spending the night in the Anchorage airport was probably the least fun of the whole trip. To get to Koliganek, we took a plane that probably seated about six people including the pilot, but it was only me, Sophie, and the pilot and several boxes. We dropped the boxes off in another village first before arriving in Koliganek. On the way we saw four moose. The pilot even swooped down a little so that we could get a closer look!
When we landed at the airport, Brian was there waiting with our new snow machine (Alaskan name for the snow mobile other times called a snow go) and a sled that he borrowed to carry my luggage. It was a beautiful day!!! I think that it was about 34 degrees! We hurried to our apartment, I got a brief tour, and then we were off to see the village. Brian showed me where the school was, the stores, the post office, and even the dump! Then we went out with Brian's trapping friend to check some traps. By the way, this was my first time on a snow mobile, and it was a little scary but fun!
Later that night we visited the principal so that I could meet her, and we visited Ron, Brian's trapping friend, and his wife Rondee who is one of the elementary teachers. They have two cute kids! Ron and Rondee have lived in Koliganek for almost two years, but they have lived in bush Alaska for seven. They were telling us stories about different villages where their running water had gone out for a month! We talked about how lucky we were to be in Koliganek!
The next morning we discovered that we had actually jinxed ourselves by having the conversation about running water. There was no water! It had gone out the night before at about 9:30. The village well had dried up! I went to school with Brian to use the bathroom because the principal said that the school had a small supply of water for the toilets to flush. I had really hoped to take a shower that morning after all of the traveling that I had done, but that had to wait.
Later I found out that school had been canceled since there was no water, so I had lots of visitors. First three elementary girls stopped by. I let them in even though I had been advised not to. They really enjoyed my mp3 player and my cell phone (no service at all in Koliganek-big surprise!). It was pretty boring in my apartment, and the kids kept asking for candy, so I told them to go with me to the post office to mail a letter for Brian. We got all bundled up, and one of the girls grabbed the letter for me. As soon as we stepped outside, the letter flew out of the girl's hand in the 50 mph winds that we were getting yesterday! One of the kids chased after it and caught it, but when the other girl dropped a five dollar bill, she chased that and dropped the letter again. After that there was no way that we would ever find the white envelope in the white snow in that wind! It was gone forever! I went over to the school right away (Brian had stayed there for teacher in-service) to find out how important the letter was. When I got there, Brian told me that it was the paperwork to get the title for our snow machine. Oops. I think that he took care of it today, though.
Brian came home for lunch yesterday to eat with me, and he told me that he and the other teachers had spent their morning planning a schedule for me since the superintendent said that there was enough money to hire me full time for the rest of the year! I'm not really sure of all of the details yet, but I think that I will be teaching two art classes, a math class or two, and tutoring some first graders who need a little extra help. I'm really excited!
After Brian got done with his in-service day yesterday, we gathered our totes and took them on a sled over to another teacher's house. He has his own well, so we filled up our totes with his water (in the rain and wind) and delivered them to some of the teachers in town. So for the last couple of days our water supply has been housed in a tote in our bath tub, and bucket in the kitchen, and a tote outside. We were able to do dishes last night with it, and I washed my self this morning from a pot of water that I heated on the stove. I'm happy to be clean! We heard tonight that we might have water tomorrow morning. We'll see. There was no school again today because of the water situation. There will be school tomorrow no matter what; they are all prepared to go through the day without water.
Today was even windier than yesterday! It was 60-65 mph winds today, so you know what that meant...Brian and I had to go for a long walk toward the woods by the river! Once we got right outside of the village, the snow was soft and deep, so it was really hard to walk. We saw some enormous moose tracks and lots of moose poop! I was really scared that we would see a moose! There was no running in that snow! The walk back was horrible; it was straight into the wind. I had to walk backward most of the time because it was hard to breathe with it blowing into my face like that. It seemed to take forever to walk the quarter of a mile back to our house!
I've only been here for a couple of days, but a lot has happened! Sorry that this message was so long; I'm sure that not all of them will be so long. Right now I'm exhausted, but Brian is making me stay up late (10:00) so that I sleep longer in the morning.
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